This invention is in the field of digital audio systems, and is more specifically directed to audio volume control in such digital audio systems.
In recent years, digital signal processing techniques have become prevalent in many electronic systems. Tremendous increases in the switching speed of digital circuits have enabled digital signal processing to replace, in large part, analog circuits in many applications. For example, the sampling rates of modern digital signal processing are sufficiently fast that digital techniques have become widely implemented in audio electronic applications. These digital audio signal processing techniques now extend even to the driving of the audio output amplifiers.
As a result of these advances in digital audio amplifiers, and advances in digital signal processing generally, audio receivers can now be realized nearly entirely in the digital domain. To the extent that audio signals remain to be processed, these digital receivers can convert any received analog audio input signals to digital form, and process the corresponding signals in a similar manner as the other digital audio signals in the system.
Of course, an important user control in digital audio systems, as in any audio system, is the control of the output volume. In conventional digital audio systems, a system controller periodically polls the position of a front panel actuator, such as a knob or slider, to read the current desired audio volume setting. Upon detecting changes in position of the actuator as the human user changes the desired audio volume, the system controller adjusts the audio volume to the desired level by applying corresponding control signals to the audio amplifier. The actual application of volume control to the amplifier output stage, in conventional digital audio systems, can be accomplished either in the digital domain or in the analog domain. It has been discovered, in connection with this invention, that each of these approaches has limitations in important situations, as will now be described.
FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional digital volume control arrangement for a channel of a conventional digital audio system. Of course, multiple channels similarly arranged may be realized in the digital audio system, as well-known in the art. Digital interface 2 receives digital audio signal dig_aud from a digital source, such a source typically being digital signal processing circuitry in a digital audio receiver, or the like. In most modern digital audio systems, this digital audio signal dig_aud is typically in the form of a pulse-code-modulation (PCM) control signal, which will be converted by PCM-PWM function 5 into a PWM duty cycle applied to class D output driver 6, which operates as a switching power stage that drives a signal applied to speaker SPKR as shown in FIG. 1. In this switching power stage output driver 6, the output signal amounts to the voltage applied to output driver 6 from amplifier power supply 8, pulse-width-modulated by the audio signal from PCM-PWM function 5 according to the audio stream. PWM is a common modulation scheme in conventional digital audio systems, because it operates according to a linear relationship between the power supply rail voltage and the output level. Of course, output driver 6 may be controlled according to another type of modulation than PWM, such modulation approaches operating according to non-linear but deterministic relationships between the rail voltage and the output level, as known in the art. In this example, digital audio signal dig_aud is presented as a twenty-four bit digital word. Digital interface 2 buffers digital audio signal dig_aud, and presents one twenty-four bit word at a time to digital gain stage 4.
In this conventional digital volume control circuit, digital gain stage 4 applies an attenuation to digital audio signal dig_aud in response to a digital volume control signal dig_gain, received from controller circuitry or the like in the digital audio system, and which corresponds to a user volume control input. In this conventional circuit, digital gain stage 4 typically reduces the volume of buffered digital audio signal dig_aud by multiplying the digital audio values by a gain value. For example, if the desired volume indicated by digital volume control signal dig_gain is to be one-sixteenth that (or −18.0618 dB from) full volume, digital gain stage 4 reduces the volume by digitally multiplying the twenty-four bit value of digital audio-signal dig_aud by a digital value corresponding to 1/16. In effect, this digital gain reduction results in the discarding of least significant bits of digital audio signal dig_aud. Output audio signal dig_out from digital gain stage 4 has (in this example) twenty significant bits, as indicated by the (20) indication on output audio signal dig_out from digital gain stage 4. This output is applied to PCM-PWM function 5, which generates PWM control signals applied to digital power amplifier 6, which is a fixed-gain amplifier that drives speaker SPKR in the conventional manner. In this example, digital amplifier 6 is biased by amplifier power supply 8, which presents a fixed bias voltage to digital amplifier 6.
In the digital volume control circuit of FIG. 1, as evident from this description, the output signal dig_out that drives amplifier 6 and speaker SPKR loses resolution as its volume is decreased. This loss of resolution is the direct result of the digital multiplication applied by digital gain stage 4, in which one or more least significant bits of digital audio signal dig_aud are stripped; for the example of reducing volume to a one-sixteenth level (−18.0618 dB), the information in the four least significant bits is lost. This loss of resolution is especially evident in “soft” audio passages, for which the digital values of digital audio signal dig_aud are relatively low (i.e., occupy relatively few significant bits) before the low volume gain is applied. Accordingly, the sound fidelity of the digital audio system at lower volumes, especially as applied to soft passages, is adversely affected by this digital volume control approach.
FIG. 2 illustrates a conventional analog volume control arrangement for a digital audio system. As in the case of the circuit of FIG. 1, the output signal applied to speaker SPKR is driven by a switching power output stage, presented by power amplifier 9, that drives speaker SPKR from a power supply “rail” voltage, modulated according to the audio stream (i.e., the audio content). Analog volume control of this conventional switching power stage of FIG. 2 is accomplished by control of the rail voltage applied to the switching power stage of power amplifier 9, in response to a digital or analog volume control signal.
In the arrangement of FIG. 2, digital audio signal dig_aud is again received by digital interface 3, which may buffer each word of digital audio signal dig_aud, and passes along digital audio signal dig_aud directly to the power stage of variable gain digital amplifier 9, via PCM-PWM converter function 5. In this conventional analog volume control arrangement, the gain applied by variable gain digital amplifier 9 is controlled by a power supply voltage X(t) from amplifier variable power supply 7. Amplifier variable power supply 7 is, in turn, controlled by a signal ana_gain that corresponds to the desired volume level indicated by a user input or the like; amplifier variable power supply 7 produces voltage X(t) at a level reduced from a power supply voltage Vsc, which is provided by power supply circuitry (not shown) based on an external power supply. Amplifier 9 drives speaker SPKR according to the PWM signal from PCM-PWM function 5, at levels depending directly on the power supply voltage X(t) applied to it by power supply 7; as such, the output drive of amplifier 9 is reduced as power supply voltage X(t) is controlled by the signal ana_gain. According to this PWM implementation, the output level has a substantially linear relationship with the rail voltage X(t) from amplifier variable power supply 7. Of course, other modulation techniques besides PWM, some of which can involve non-linear relationships between the rail voltage and the output level, are also known in the art.
An advantage of the conventional analog volume control arrangement of FIG. 2, relative to the digital volume control of FIG. 1, is that resolution and fidelity in the audio signal is not lost at lower volume levels, because the precision of digital audio signal dig_aud remains constant over the entire volume range. However, it has been observed that the instantaneous performance of this analog volume control arrangement is inaccurate as the volume is reduced, as will now be described.
As shown in FIG. 2, bulk storage capacitance BSC is present within amplifier variable power supply 7. This bulk storage capacitance BSC is charged by the power supply circuitry as the volume is increased; typically, this power supply circuitry has sufficient drive to charge bulk storage capacitance BSC so that voltage X(t) follows the rate of the desired volume increase. However, in conventional arrangements such as shown in FIG. 2, there is no “sink” path provided for power supply 7, other than that of amplifier 9. Accordingly, if a lower desired volume level is indicated by signal ana_gain, the power supply output X(t) may not immediately be reduced, and as such the actual audio output volume at speaker SPKR may not instantaneously fall. This lack of response is especially noticeable if the level of audio signal dig_aud is at a low level when the volume is reduced, because power stage 6 is operating at a relatively low duty cycle and thus only slowly discharges the bulk storage capacitance. In this situation, the volume reduction demanded by signal ana_gain does not occur until a louder passage of digital audio signal dig_aud occurs, permitting amplifier 9 to rapidly discharge the bulk storage capacitance BSC. This undesirable data-dependent lag in volume reduction is, of course, noticeable to the listener.
A conventional approach to this problem is also illustrated in FIG. 2. Voltage controlled switch 11 directs excess current from the output of amplifier variable power supply 7 to shunt load 11, in situations in which the output X(t) from amplifier variable power supply 7 remains high relative to the desired output level indicated by signal ana_gain. Switch 11 and shunt load 13 thus help to improve the response of this analog volume control circuitry, particularly to assist in the reduction of volume. However, shunt load 13 is necessarily implemented as a resistor, and as such generates heat from the I2R power it dissipates. Rapid volume changes that cause frequent closing of switch 11, and thus a relatively large amount of current into shunt load 11 over time, will thus generate substantial heat in the system, which is especially undesirable in portable digital audio systems, which are miniaturized as much as practicable.